This is the 2013 index of the pages describing our very dull life in the
UK since arriving in 2011. We couldn't travel in Summer 2013 even if we
wanted to as the UKBA has had all our passports for over 5 months. We hope at some stage they will
return them with some positive news on Yuehong's and Yiran's status but as
their performance standards quote '95% of applications decided within 6
months', we're not holding our breath waiting...

For most people in the UK the prospect of taking on a property built up 33
steps on a 30 degree slope would be a nightmare. For us, it's proved both a
challenge and a delight. This is our third summer (2013), the first started
late for us in June and was spent cutting away the growth of two years near
total neglect. It was dry as the seasons go in these parts by which I mean,
the moss had trouble making any progress. 2012 was the most miserable summer
imaginable, it was cold and wet almost continuously. As you will see below,
2013 had as bad a start as can be imagined, but this has in fact set up
the later months very nicely. Now read all about it...